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10 Worst Cars of All Time Revisited

Written by: Ted Reed03/17/14 - 6:45 AM EDT

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Detroit (TheStreet) -- Of all the bad cars on all the lists of all the worst cars in the world, Walter White drove off in ours.

We take no credit for this, but the Pontiac Aztek, which topped the list of the 10 Worst Cars of All Time in TheStreet's February 2012 story, was destined for more fame than it had ever achieved in the five years when GM actively sold it.

The Aztek became increasingly well-known because it was driven by one of the worst guys ever. That was White, a chemistry teacher with terminal cancer who became a homicidal meth dealer during the five seasons that "Breaking Bad," in which White was the leading character, became one of the top TV shows of all time.

The show gained immense popularity during its final season, which ran from July 2012 through September 2013.

For our story, we took the 10 worst cars from a list of the 100 worst cars ever that was developed by Edmunds.com. About two dozen Edmunds.com staffers spent a couple of months refining their list of the 100 worst cars ever. They started with individual lists of bad cars, compiled them and put the cars in order, accompanied by lots of discussions, emails and meetings. The story was written by Santa Barbara, Ca.-resident John Pearley Huffman.

"The reason why the Aztek was Walter White's car was to show how desperately lame he was," Huffman said. As said, "It was the right car for a guy whose life was a miserable, nightmarish life of desperation and mediocrity." Also, Huffman said, the Aztek was an effective weapon for White when it struck and killed two drug dealers.

As White began to make money in the meth business, he sold his Aztec and leased a brand new 2013 Chrysler 300, which he later abandoned in the desert. But the Aztec remains an enduring symbol, an unfortunate car for an unfortunate life.

Now it is time to run through the 10 worst cars of all time. Huffman has made a change in this list, replacing the 1955 BMW Isetta, which was No. 3, with a recent vehicle.

Huffman said his editor made him include the Isetta when in fact "everybody loves the Isetta."

Truthfully, we learned after this list was first published that most of the cars on it had their defenders. Even the Vega had defenders.